iPhone 8 Key Feature Now in Serious Doubt

A new report points to Apple nixing an integrated Touch ID sensor on the iPhone 8, but is it cancelled altogether on the device?

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There's serious confusion around a key feature for the iPhone 8 just weeks before launch.

(Image credit: Gabor Balogh)

After an earlier Bloomberg report claimed that Apple was considering ditching the Touch ID sensor on the 10th-anniversary iPhone in favor of 3D face scanning, now comes word from KGI Securities' analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that embedded Touch ID has been cancelled on the iPhone 8.

AppleInsider, which reported on this latest development, says that Apple had been working to integrate a Touch ID sensor on the iPhone 8's OLED screen. But those plans have apparently been scrapped.

In fact, Kuo believes that Samsung will be the first to use under-screen optical fingerprint hardware in next year's Galaxy Note 9.

Meanwhile, GSMArena has obtained what could be the first "live" image of the back of the iPhone 8. The blurry photo shows a fingerprint sensor underneath the Apple logo on the back. And there's a dual vertical camera in the upper left corner of the handset's rear.

The phones are sitting in what appear to be a Foxconn box, which would signal that this is coming straight from the factory, but it's also possible that the image is fake.

So which is it? Is Apple ditching Touch ID on the iPhone 8 in favor of face scanning or will it keep the technology around? We'll know for sure in September, when the phone is expected to be unveiled.